World - Agricultural machinery, tractors

The value for Agricultural machinery, tractors in World was 23,630,920 as of 2002. As the graph below shows, over the past 41 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 25,068,730 in 2000 and a minimum value of 9,984,368 in 1961.

Definition: Agricultural machinery refers to the number of wheel and crawler tractors (excluding garden tractors) in use in agriculture at the end of the calendar year specified or during the first quarter of the following year.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also:

Year Value
1961 9,984,368
1962 10,386,210
1963 10,815,810
1964 11,238,320
1965 11,617,320
1966 12,691,310
1967 13,046,850
1968 13,395,310
1969 13,769,060
1970 13,910,620
1971 14,235,900
1972 14,534,330
1973 14,897,740
1974 15,417,370
1975 15,689,160
1976 16,123,130
1977 16,652,780
1978 17,179,090
1979 17,619,990
1980 18,305,930
1981 18,650,720
1982 19,081,440
1983 19,459,110
1984 19,863,610
1985 20,392,620
1986 20,817,630
1987 21,188,000
1988 21,330,940
1989 21,651,340
1990 21,313,900
1991 21,182,460
1992 23,795,560
1993 23,989,380
1994 24,117,930
1995 24,271,420
1996 24,269,960
1997 24,422,430
1998 24,542,730
1999 24,791,750
2000 25,068,730
2002 23,630,920

Development Relevance: Agricultural land covers more than one-third of the world's land area. In many industrialized countries, agricultural land is subject to zoning regulations. In the context of zoning, agricultural land (or more properly agriculturally zoned land) refers to plots that may be used for agricultural activities, regardless of the physical type or quality of land. A substantial contribution to agriculture in the last century has been the escalation from manual and stock-animal farm work to gas-powered farm equipment. Globally, steel plows, mowers, mechanical reapers, seed drills, and threshers contributed to the development of mechanized agriculture, tractors enabled the farmer to sow and harvest large agricultural lands with less manpower. In modern times, powered machinery such as tractors, has replaced many jobs formerly carried out by men or animals such as oxen, horses and mules. FAO estimates that most farmers in developing countries experience a greater annual expenditure on farm power inputs than on fertilizer, seeds or agrochemicals. Agriculture is still a major sector in many economies, and agricultural activities provide developing countries with food and revenue. But agricultural activities also can degrade natural resources as poor farming practices cause soil erosion and loss of soil fertility. There is no single correct mix of inputs to the agricultural land, as it is dependent on local climate, land quality, and economic development; appropriate levels and application rates vary by country and over time and depend on the type of crops, the climate and soils, and the production process used.

Limitations and Exceptions: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: A tractor provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially tillage. Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanized. The most common use of the term "tractor" is for the vehicles used on farms. The farm tractor is used for pulling or pushing agricultural machinery or trailers, for plowing, tilling, disking, harrowing, planting, and similar tasks. Planting, tending and harvesting a crop requires both a significant amount of power and a suitable range of tools and equipment. Mechanization of farming has allowed an increase to the area that can be planted and has contributed towards increased yields, mainly due to the precision with which the farming tasks can be accomplished.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Agricultural production